Germany’s Merck Taps Palantir for Big Data Health Initiative
- Broad partnership will focus first on cancer drug discoveries
- Merck is biggest pharma deal for Palantir, latest European win
A laboratory technician watches as a machine checks blood pressure tablets for any imperfections in the laboratories at the Merck KGaA headquarters in Darmstadt, Germany.
Photographer: Krisztian Bocsi/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Merck KGaA said it will use Palantir Technologies Inc. software to analyze the reams of pharmaceutical, life sciences and chemical data it collects to help develop and deliver products more rapidly.
The deal marks the first step in a long-term partnership giving Palantir a cut of Merck’s resulting profits, the chemical and pharma giant said at Palantir’s headquarters in Palo Alto, California. The companies will initially focus on treatment and services for cancer patients. They plan to eventually roll out the data tools to all divisions of the 349-year-old German company.